Respect for Each Other

Posted by David on April 10, 2008 under Bulletin Articles

The apostle to the gentiles who wrote this held the clothes of those who killed Stephen (Acts 7:58), confronted the apostle Peter face-to-face (Galatians 2:11), and sharply disagreed with his mentor, Barnabas (Acts 15:39). My point is not that Paul’s belief and actions were inconsistent. My point is that respect is difficult to maintain.

When Paul [Saul] held the clothing of those who killed Stephen, Paul was not a Christian-killing Stephen was “right” (Acts 8:1). When, as a Christian, he confronted Peter, Peter’s behavior was inconsistent with God’s revelation to Peter. When Paul and Barnabas disagreed sharply, they had an extreme difference of opinion about John Mark. In Romans 14, Paul wrote about the enormous gulf between Jewish and gentile Christians-a major problem in first-century congregations (see Acts 15:1-5).

Yet, the Christian who confronted could redirect. Years later as an imprisoned Paul neared death, he asked Timothy to bring Mark to him. Nearing death, he asked for the man who had been at the center of his controversy with his best friend and work companion!

Regarding the enormous controversy in the first congregations, this man who had been the “Jews’ Jew” (Galatians 1:14) understood God could save anyone (including gentiles) on the basis of faith that Jesus was the resurrected Christ. A Jew did not need to cease to be culturally a Jew to accept Jesus was God’s Christ. A gentile did not need to cease to be culturally a gentile to accept that the living God resurrected the dead Jesus to be the living Christ.

That was extremely difficult for Jews, including Jewish Christians, to accept! The teaching that gentiles could be saved without circumcision (Genesis 17:9-14) or the Jewish dietary restrictions (Leviticus 11) were just plain offensive to Jewish converts! They felt so strongly about this that they made the apostle Peter afraid of them (see Galatians 2:11-13). Paul understood when he wrote Romans 14 that God’s acts were not hostage to human logic, human desires, and human opinions. God could and would save Christians who, in God, did contrasting things. Why? God knows motives, the whys.

A healthy congregation is a growing organism composed of every level of spiritual maturity. Only with respect for each other can we become what God intended.

The Messenger and the Harbinger

Posted by Chris on April 6, 2008 under Sermons

“American Progress” by John Gast, 1872

A Tale of Two Journals

• Christian Messenger
  1. Barton Stone, editor
  2. 1826-1845
  3. “Point the way of reformation”
• Millennial Harbinger
  1. Alexander Campbell, editor
  2. 1830-1870
  3. To destroy sectarianism and introduce the Millennium

Stone’s Theology

• Unity through the Spirit
  • “Let unity be our polar star”
  • Four kinds of Union
• Apocalyptic
  • Non-political
  • Kingdom of God
• Holiness

Campbell’s Theology

• Unity
  • Ecumenical
  • Agreement on essentials
• Ancient Gospel and Ancient Order
  • Primitive religion & Rational thought
• Millennium
  • Postmillennial
  • Optimistic of progress and American government

Stone: Premillennialist

• The Kingdom of God will break down and judge every earthly government
• Anti-slavery, non-political, pacifist
• Unity would usher in the millennium

Campbell: Postmillennialist

• Unity and Restoration are means to an end.
• American progress was the dawn of the millennium.
• It connected his complex views on restoration and unity.

The Two Alexander Campbells

• Sectarian vs. Ecumenical
• Debating vs. Cooperative
• Rigid vs. Open
• Primitive vs. Common

The Tension in Campbell’s Theology

• Unity vs. Restoration
  • General faith vs. Orthodox faith
  • Enlightenment (reasonable agreement) vs. Puritanism (purity and exclusion)
• Primitivism vs. Postmillennialism
  • Past vs. Future
  • Regression vs. Progression

Campbell: The Sage of Bethany

• America’s Millennial dreams faded by 1866 [due to Civil War].
• Campbell’s followers, not sharing the millennial hope, began to divide.
• Each side held a place of honor for and laid claim to the legacy of Alexander Campbell.

Cloud of Witnesses: Quality Ministry for Youth, Families, and Congregation

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

Hebrews 11-12.
Cloud of Witnesses: What does it mean? What does it look like? How does it work?
What it means for us (West-Ark)?

1. Passing the Baton –
   1. When a relay runner gives up the baton she knows that she has done her best to get there, and she has faith that the next runner will do her best and maybe even hope that the next runner will do better than her.
   2. One generation passes down faith to the next.
   3. Deuteronomy 6:1-9 – Impress them on your children [Who impresses our kids the most?]
   4. Deuteronomy 6:20-25 – Q: “What does this mean?” — A: “This will be our righteousness”

2. Completing Faith –
   1. The faith of young and old completes each other. Young need old and old need young.
   2. Adults need the faith of children because they see some things better.
   3. Children need the faith of adults because adults see some things better.
   4. Widows/Widowers Valentine Banquet – the teens and older people were encouraging each other and teaching each other. A Crystal Ball that shows the teens their future and a witness of hope that shows the elderly the legacy of faith (a future they can feel good about).
   5. Hebrews 11:39-40 (Message) Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours.
   6. Christ is what links us to one another.

3. A “Great” Cloud” — Ministry to All Children by the Whole Church
   1. We cannot be so narrowly focused that we regard youth ministry and children’s ministry as being just for “our” kids. All kids are “our” kids.
   2. Center Street Church of Christ
   3. The church in East Kilbride, Scotland
   4. It has to be the work of the Whole Church — Ministering to and through children and teens (and also to their families) is more than a “department” or the work of a few individuals. It’s got to be a “West-Ark” thing. It is who we are. Collaborative. (From Robert Oglesby – “The youth ministry program should be collaborative in nature for the future. It is not the youth minister’s program nor is it the parent’s or teen’s program. The church needs to embrace a vision of the youth ministry being everyone’s job.”)
   5. Elephant social life revolves around breeding and raising of the calves. Elephants have a very long childhood. They are born with fewer survival instincts than many other animals. Instead, they must rely on their elders to teach them the things they need to know. All members of the tightly knit group participate in the care and protection of the young. In fact, a new calf is usually the center of attention for all herd members. All the adults and most of the other young will gather around the newborn, touching and caressing it with their trunks.
   6. Elephants get it. If they can do this, then so can we.
   7. Our Focus is On Christ (Hebrews 12:1-3) – Who is he focused on?

4. We can do this. This is us.
   1. This is our calling. There is a need in our day and time and in this region to minister to young people and their families.
   2. This is one of our strengths. We have gifted, talented, dedicated people who lead our children’s ministries and youth ministries.
   3. Over the years we’ve built up resources. We have the people who can train and equip other people.
   4. We haven’t been perfect, and yet in our weaknesses and flaws we see how God has blessed us in this. We need to maintain this dedication.

Insights From Ephesians (part 2)

Posted by David on April 3, 2008 under Sermons

Today I want to focus us on the concept of gifts. At first mention, you might not think that is a very important concept. I hope when you finish thinking with me, you will find your insights and thoughts truly helpful.

I suspect all of us have received gifts. What concept do you think of when you think of the word "gift?" There are birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, welcome gifts, "thinking of you" gifts, various forms of appreciation gifts, various forms of accomplishment gifts like graduation gifts, various forms of event gifts like shower gifts, and various forms of need gifts like the gifts given in a disaster. There are all kinds of gifts people give.

My Webster’s Dictionary says a gift is a voluntary transfer of something from one person to another without compensation. That definition causes me to ask an interesting question: "When does a gift cease to be a gift?"

Let me give you a couple of illustrations. A few years ago there was a rather common saying in business circles: "There are no free lunches." To accept a free lunch appointment from someone in business often meant you accepted a sense of obligation. The sense of obligation: "I will be nice to you now, but I expect you to be nice to me later." The sense of obligation eliminated the concept of the lunch being a gift.

Even today sometimes a person or group is given something extremely valuable for one dollar. It may be a vehicle; it may be a building; or it may be some land. The value of that which is provided far, far exceeds the price of one dollar.

So I ask you some questions. Does a sense of obligation cause a gift to cease being a gift? If the value of that provided far exceeds the compensation, is that which is provided a gift? Is it a gift if it is a tax write-off? Is it a gift if there is in any way strings attached?

With these questions, consider our reading found in Ephesians 1:10-14, In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

1. The verses in our reading are actually (in the Greek) one sentence that has its beginning in verse 3.
   
   1. It is one of 8 lengthy sentences in Ephesians, and one of the longest (202 words).
      
   2. Some biblical scholars hate this sentence because it is so hard to follow.
      
   3. Some biblical scholars love this sentence because of its lofty language.
      
   4. I do not begin to compare myself with scholars who love or hate it–our thoughts will not focus on how to dissect this long sentence.
2. I want to call your attention to some words Paul used and their concepts which we need to note.
   
   1. The first thing I ask you to notice is that this long verse declares how indebted people are to Jesus Christ.
      
      1. He is our source of all spiritual blessing.
         
      2. He made it possible for God to choose us.
         
      3. He made it possible for God to adopt us.
         
      4. He made our redemption and forgiveness possible.
         
      5. He revealed to us the mystery of God’s will.
         
      6. He is the summation of all God’s purpose in heaven and on earth.
   2. And, in our reading today:
      
      1. Christ made it possible for us to inherit from God.
         
      2. Christ provided us hope.
         
      3. Christ allows us to be God’s own possession.
   3. One of the central concerns in the first century was the importance of Jesus.
      
      1. There were many people (Jewish people) who were convinced they could do the will of God without Jesus.
         
      2. There were also many people (in idolatry) that were convinced there were numerous others gods to appeal to that had nothing to do with Jesus.
         
      3. Thus, in the first century, placing confidence in Jesus was a "big deal."
         
      4. Paul said the living God did things through Jesus that could not be done through anyone else.

3. Second, please note this long sentence extols God’s greatness.
   
   1. First, note the relationship between God and Jesus.
      
      1. It is a Father-son relationship, with God being the Father, and Jesus Christ being the son.
         
      2. It is not a brother-brother relationship, but a Father-son relationship.
         
      3. One of the objectives of Jesus Christ was to vindicate God’s greatness.
         
      4. That surely is in keeping with the same writer’s point to the Corinthian Christians in 1 Corinthians 15:28, When all things are subjected to Him (Jesus Christ the Lord), then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One (God the Father) who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.
   2. God the Father is the author (source) of all that was accomplished in Jesus.
      
      1. Jesus, in life and death, just revealed the depth of God’s interest in and concern for us.
         
      2. The final objective of all the good things done for us in Jesus is to praise the goodness of God.
         
         1. For example, God adopts us, but God is able to adopt us through Jesus.
            
         2. Or, God is the source of our eternal inheritance, but God through Jesus has the means to grant us the inheritance.
            
         3. Thus, Christians can glorify God because of the wonderful things God made possible for us through Jesus Christ.
4. There are some particular word concepts you are asked to note in today’s reading (Ephesians 1:10-14).
   
   1. The first word called to your attention is the word "inheritance."
      
      1. An inheritance is a gift provided on the basis of qualification, not merit.
         
         1. In our society, at death we can dispose of our possessions in any way we choose.
            
         2. We can give our possessions to an institution, a cause, to someone not related to us, or to something that is not even human.
            
         3. In an inheritance, the one who gives the inheritance chooses the conditions or qualifications.
            
         4. In an inheritance, the gift is dependent on the will of the giver rather than the claims of the receiver or non-receiver.
      2. To me, it seems ridiculous for any human to conclude any human act in some way obligates God.
         
         1. We respond to God’s gift of Jesus.
            
         2. We placed God under no obligation to give us Jesus.
            
         3. We have salvation because God gave first, not because we did first.
            
         4. I deeply appreciate this same man’s statement in Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
   2. The second word I would like to call to your attention is the word "predestined."
      
      1. Because of earlier concepts of predestination, many of us have developed a prejudice to the word "predestination."
         
         1. The earlier concept associated predestination with personal salvation–God determined whether a person would be saved or lost before the person was born, and there was nothing a person could do to change God’s decision.
            
         2. However, there is a concept of predestination that has nothing to do with God determining a person’s salvation in a way that eliminates the person’s choice.
      2. It is likely that most of you accept through faith that concept of predestination.
         
         1. Consider some examples.
            
         2. Do you believe God sent Jesus to this world? Is that not belief in a concept of predestination?
            
         3. Do you believe God will cause an end the this evil world? Is that not belief in a concept of predestination?
            
         4. Do you believe God will cause a judgment of all people to occur? Is that not belief in a concept of predestination?
            
         5. Do you believe that God will finally destroy Satan? Is that not a belief in a concept of predestination?
            
         6. In any one of those things or in all of those things do you believe there is anything humans or Satan can do to prevent some or all of those things from happening? Do you believe one or all of those things will happen because God wills them to happen? Is that not a form of or concept of predestination?
            
         7. My objective is not to convince you to believe in something you reject. My objective is to challenge you to be aware of the fact that there is more than one concept of predestination.
      3. There are certain things that God wills to happen that will happen at some point in human events because God purposes and intends them to happen.
         
         1. Your salvation, your personal response to God is not one of them.
            
         2. God willed that all who place their confidence in Jesus Christ and enter him will be saved in him–a person cannot be "in Christ" and fail to be saved.
            
         3. In a general form of predestination, God wills that those in Jesus Christ will be saved–that is God’s desire.
            
         4. However, the choice to be in Christ is yours–you choose to place your confidence in Christ.
            
         5. Generally, God wills the salvation of all in Christ; specifically, God does not choose your response to Christ for you.
            
         6. God wants everyone to turn from Satan, have confidence in Jesus, and be in Jesus Christ. As Peter once wrote in 2 Peter 3:9, The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
            
         7. God wants all of us to be saved–that is His sacrificial intent.
            
         8. If we refuse to enter Jesus Christ and place our confidence in him, that is our choice–not God’s.
   3. The third word I call to your attention is the word "sealed."
      
      1. First, realize what he cannot be talking about.
         
         1. For us, in a democracy and technological age, we likely think of plastic bags and freezing when we think about sealed.
            
         2. In Paul’s age, our form of democracy did not exist, nor did plastic, nor did freezing as a form of food preservation.
            
         3. Thus, Paul cannot be speaking of our form of government or preserving food by using a freezer.
      2. Second, their form of government was centered in kings or emperors.
         
         1. They did not have our secure means of communicating nor our secure way of communicating.
            
         2. Thus if someone important wanted to send a secure message to someone, the message sender "sealed" his message with wax and put the imprint of his signet ring in the hot wax.
            
         3. If the hard (cooled) wax and its imprint were unbroken, it meant the message had not been seen by others.
            
         4. Thus the wax and imprint said, "This is the property of the sender, and it is intended for you."
      3. Paul said if they were in Christ, they were God’s property.
         
         1. The imprint was God’s gift of His spirit.
            
         2. That imprint was given to all in Christ (both Jew and gentile) in Acts 2 and 10, and to the individual who was baptized into Jesus Christ as verified in Acts 2:38 and Acts 5:29-32.
            
         3. Christians had God’s imprint in them that said they were God’s property.
      4. The person in Christ is not "on his or her own"–he or she is God’s property!
         
         1. The existence of God’s spirit in Christians demonstrates God’s seriousness in granting that person His inheritance.
            
         2. That Spirit is God’s pledge that He will give His inheritance to the person.
            
         3. God will keep His promise to save those who are in Christ!

I hope you will not look at the lengthy sentence in Ephesians 1:3-14 only academically as one of Paul’s long, long sentences. When you look at what he said, I hope you will see these things:

1. The importance of Jesus Christ.
2. That our purpose and Jesus’ purpose was/is to honor God.
3. That God is earnestly committed to saving people in Jesus Christ.
4. That your salvation is precious and deserves your absolute commitment.

The central question: do you want forgiveness as badly as God wants to give you forgiveness?

Let Jesus Be The Christ

Posted by David on under Bulletin Articles

Healthy congregations understand that Jesus is the way people approach God (John 14:6; Hebrews 1:1, 2; 4:14-16). The Christians in such congregations understand one of God’s intents in Jesus (resurrected to be Lord and Christ) was to provide all people access to God. He is Lord because it was God’s intent that he conquer everything opposing God (1 Corinthians 15:25-28). God placed all divine authority in the resurrected Jesus (Matthew 28:18; Ephesians 1:20-23).

Jesus is the Christ by God’s intent. Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:3; Galatians 3:8, 16). (“Christ” is the Greek word for the Hebrew “Messiah.”) Jesus is the “anointed by God” to bring God’s gift to our physical world (Matthew 1:18-23; Luke 1:31-33; John 3:16; Romans 5:8). He gives us immediate access to God (Hebrews 6:19, 20; 10:19-21) by allowing us to go where no one before us went. The resurrected Jesus is seated (mission accomplished!) at God’s right hand (the place of prominence) to intercede for us (Romans 8:33, 34). As Christians, we have a quality of representation with God that is unequaled and cannot be surpassed (Hebrews 8:1, 2).

Our confidence is in a Savior–not an institution, not a building, not a person or group of persons (humans), not a prominent historical figure, not an apostle, nor in a human perspective. We trust the One who died for us, who was raised for us, who intercedes for us, and who (by God’s appointment) is the Lord given to lead us to God.

Healthy congregations listen to Jesus, learn from Jesus, follow Jesus, and let Jesus show them God’s purposes and intents. Instead of being defensive of human ideas and desires, we are willing to learn. Instead of concluding we know everything to be known about God’s will, we are open to God’s guidance in Jesus Christ. Instead of turning people away from God, we encourage those who seek God. We never stop seeking God’s wisdom placed in Jesus.

We call ourselves “Christians” because we want to be like Jesus. We shine as lights in a dark world to attract people to Jesus and to glorify God (Matthew 5:16). Such people make healthy congregations. Lives and behavior are determined by Jesus, not people.